The Debian Release Team announced that the next stable version 4.0, codenamed Etch, has been frozen now. This means that only urgent changes will be done to Etch, in order to get the numbers of release critical bugs even more down, and release Etch soon.

Release managers are not mentioned in the Debian Constitution, yet few positions in Debian are more influential, especially in the final stages of preparation for a release. Recently, Andreas Barth, who shares the release manager position with Steve Langasek, took time from his efforts coordinating the Etch release -- tentatively scheduled for early December -- to talk about the stages in the release process, the goals for the upcoming release, and the short- and long-range problems that he faces in his role. Contrary to some predictions of disaster, he presents a picture of a distribution that is continuing to evolve without sacrificing the openness for which it is often admired.

In the Debian project they refer to packages that no longer have mantainers as orphaned. I think it's a good definition, and I'd extend it to free software packages that are no longer developed.

There are a lot of orphaned packages around, some actually deserve it but unfortunately there are also some that are promising or very good, and now they are almost dead. But, since we are talking about free software, every good developer is encouraged to pick one and try to push it a bit further.

The Debian project is pleased to announce the fourth update of its stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 (codename `sarge'). This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustment to serious problems. Those who frequently update from security.debian.org won't have to update many packages and most updates from security.debian.org are included in this update.

A month after it was announced, Dunc-Tank, the unofficial organization to fund selected projects in Debian, is on track with its first experiments. The organization has defused active opposition to its experiment within Debian and is now ready to receive donations and to proceed with its plans.